During the 1870s, grasshopper plagues made life miserable for Minnesota's farmers. The insects traveled in swarms so large they darkened the sky, destroying crops and farmers’ livelihoods along the way. Learn more about the government response to the crisis and the lasting damage that was left behind.
When enterprising Wilford Fawcett came home to Robbinsdale, MN, after World War I, he thought it would be good business to publish the dirty jokes he heard in the trenches overseas. He called his magazine "Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang" and it became a huge success. MN90 producer Marisa Helms tells us Fawcett made a small fortune off of his bawdy humor magazine and went on to build a publishing empire of hobby magazines and comic books, including Captain Marvel.